(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a golf cart, alternatively known as a golf buggy.
(2) Description of Related Art
Patent Number GB 2 309 384 described inter alia a golf cart stored on the roof of which, in a folded or coiled form, were a plurality of articulated lengths of electrically conductive material. In the event of lightning risk, it was envisaged to lower each of such articulated lengths to contact the ground, the lengths of electrically conductive material being so spaced apart as jointly to constitute a protective cage through the components of which any lightning strike could travel to earth without harming the occupants of the cart.
Japanese patent application 11-348823 discloses a golf cart protected against lightning strike, in which the roof is made of an electrically conductive material and is supported at four corners by electrically conductive frames. Additional electrical conductors can be mounted at the side by hooking them on to a roofpole and to the underside of the frame.
The present invention is a development and improvement of known golf carts, and has arisen as a consequence of experimental work on full-scale prototypes of the original invention loaded with life-sized dummies and subjected to elongate ultrahigh voltage sparks in simulation of a lightning strike.
This work has also indicated that preferably the spacing of the cage components should not vary unduly during use. Since in my prior proposal the components let down from the roof are flexible or articulated, and since it is a desideratum that the cart should be able to move to a place of safety even when so protected, there is a risk that the spacing of the components hanging around a moving cart might vary as their lower ends drag along making the necessary electrical contact with the ground. The arrangement of JP 11-348823 goes some way to meeting this requirement but further improvement is required to ensure adequate protection.
Our experimental work has also indicated that the spacing of the vertical components of an effective protective cage can be sufficiently large that a total of only six such components would be adequate to protect electrically that internal volume enclosed within the typical dimensions of a conventional two-person golf cart, provided that such components provide a sufficiently reliable earth path.